McDonald's vs The Burger Revolution | Better Burgers | 1

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It's the mid-2000s, and new burger chains are popping up across the United States. Places like Five Guys and Shake Shack are touting their higher-quality ingredients. As these chains rapidly expand, they force behemoths like McDonald’s to reevaluate their own businesses and switch up their menus. And as “better burgers” make it big, they start competing with each other for space in an increasingly overstuffed industry.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's 2002 in Alexandria, Virginia, Virginia,
0:11.6	Jerry Morell is seated at a table flanked by his wife, Janie, and his four sons.
0:16.9	Together, they run a burger chain called Five Guys, named after the men in the family.
0:22.6	Morel started Five Guys 16 years ago, way back in 1986.
0:27.6	His concept was simple.
0:29.6	Use quality ingredients for a tiny menu consisting exclusively of burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and fries.
0:37.7	Since then, the business has grown to five locations in the D.C. area.
0:42.0	But for the past few years, Morel's sons have insisted that they should franchise.
0:47.2	The way they see it, they've built a successful business.
0:51.0	Locals love it.
0:52.4	So, why not expand outside of D.C.? Morel is not convinced.
0:59.4	He's very particular about the way his family runs five guys, and he worries that franchising
1:05.1	might cheapen or change the business. But recently, his sons have been begging their father to meet with Mark
1:12.3	Mosley. Mosley spent 16 years as a famous NFL player. Now that he's retired from football,
1:19.3	he's particularly interested in burger chains, and he's had his eye on five guys for a while.
1:25.8	So finally, Morel has agreed to a meeting with Mosley at
1:29.3	Fransmart, the franchising company where he works. And since this is a family business,
1:35.3	Morel brought his whole family along. Mosley leans forward and smiles at Morel. Thanks for
1:42.7	agreeing to a meeting. You know, I was surprised when you said yes.
1:47.0	Well, the boys have been asking me to consider this for years.
1:50.0	I mean, it's got to the point where my eldest here actually bought me a copy of franchising for dummies.
1:56.0	And with some interesting stuff in there, too, so I figured I might as well agree to a meeting, even if it is just to get these guys off my back.
	...

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